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The Oberlin Initiative in Electoral
Politics (OIEP) is a program funded by Oberlin College alumni Richard
and Dorothy Cole to encourage Oberlin graduates to run for and serve in
public office.
Cole Scholars Component
The program annually allows Oberlin College to place ten to fifteen (current)
students as interns in political campaigns or elections related settings
for eight weeks during the summer. These students are known as Cole Scholars.
The OIEP supports the students' living expenses in the field including
rent, food, and job related expenses. The students also receive a summer
financial stipend. OIEP provides transportation for the students to their
campaign site along with a return trip to their home location. Over the
last fourteen years, our students have been placed in presidential, House,
Senate, and gubernatorial campaigns, with state political parties, political
consultants, with county organizations, and in county, city council, and
mayoral elections. Students choose the campaigns in which they wish to
work.
Our Cole Scholars are selected from a campus wide competition and must
take a "Studies in Electoral Politics" course (Polt 421) the
spring semester before they do their summer field work as interns. In
this course, students learn both practical tasks (targeting, press releases,
public speaking skills, etc.) and also engage with scholarly research
concerning campaigns and elections. Each student completes a researched
overview of the location and political context of his/her internship and
campaign. The overview addresses topics such as past voting practices
of the electorate, demographic shifts within the district, a survey of
"hot button" issues, profiles of local community and political
leaders, etc.
Following their summer field placements, students enroll in a fall semester
class (Polt 422) in which they write an independently researched paper
that analyzes some aspect of their field internship experience in light
of relevant theoretical and analytical literatures. Research papers address
topics such as: shifting voter preferences, the role of the media, political
party restructuring, the role of negative advertising, the impact of new
campaign finance laws, minority voting patterns, gender, race, and/or
class issues and their impact in elections.
OIEP Keynote Speaker
Each year, the OIEP brings a variety of speakers to campus to address
aspects of campaigns and elections. Annually, we invite one major speaker
who has served in the public realm with distinction to keynote our yearly
activities.
Alumni Support Component
We are able to fund alumni who are planning to run for public office for
campaign related activities such as attending a professional workshop
on organizing a campaign or an educational workshop that will provide
an alumna/us with greater depth in an issue area. Announcements of solicitations
for proposals annually appear in the Oberlin College Alumni Magazine.
General Campus Component
Other components of the Oberlin Initiative in Electoral Politics include
faculty support for the development of related courses and sponsoring
skill-building workshops open to students across the campus.
Applications
for becoming a Cole Scholar can be found on the Politics Department's
website.
Cole Scholars 2007
Justin Brodgen
Elizabeth Hetherington
Daniel Gessner
Namrata Kolachalam
Megan Lubin
Frank Tisano
Stephanie Zable
Frances Zlotnick
Cole Scholars 1994-2006
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